Mystikal Says Mannie Fresh/ Birdman Rift Doesn’t Affect Him

While working on Original for Cash Money, Mystikal tells ‘RapFix Live,’ ‘What I do with Mannie is what I do with Mannie.’By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Mystikal and SwayPhoto: Natasha Chandel/ MTV News

New Orleans has a rich hip-hop tradition, anchored mostly by Cash Money Records and Master P’s No limit label, which saw its heyday in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Mystikal is one of the few MCs who can claim a connection to both crews, but now that he is signed with Birdman what will become of his relationship with former Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh?

It’s no secret that the Cash Money CEO isn’t keen on working with his former Big Tymers groupmate, as he told XXLMag.com, but after his release from prison, Mystikal hit the studio with Fresh. “I did some hot tracks with him, when I first came home, like some mixtape kinda stuff. We just ain’t ever released it yet,” Mystikal said on Wednesday’s “RapFix Live.”

“Me and Mannie, we have about five under our belt right now, so I’m just tryin’a keep it movin’,” he continued. “I got what I need from KLC, the Beats by the Pound stuff. Lord, it’s gonna be an awesome album,” he said of his upcoming Original LP.

In 2010, a viral video of Mystikal freestyling to a number of Fresh beats while the two sat in the producer’s car racked up thousands of views. “The amount of hits on that is nuts, because we were just sitting in the car vibing,” Fresh told MTV News of the video while at Bonnaroo last June. “I was just going through beats, and he was rapping on it, and I’m trying to convince him [that] I think that would be his mixtape.”

A few of their collaborations — like “Move Something” and “Uh Oh” — have already made their way online. As far as the rift between the #1 Stunna and Fresh, Mystikal says that has nothing to do with him. He also maintains that he is able to separate his business from the personal. “What I do with Mannie is what I do with Mannie, what I do with my company is with the company,” he said.

What do you think of Mystikal and Mannie Fresh’s chemistry on record? Tell us in the comments!